After having problems with an apartment rental Media Studies student Leonie Müller, 23, decided it was a good idea to pack everything into storage, buy an unlimited train ticket and spend the next year working on trains. Three months into the project she’s become the focus of attention when it comes to digital nomads. Naturally we’re not interested in how she sleeps, washes her hair or makes her own food, we’re more interested in what tech she’s using and how she’s using it, right? What ultramobile tech do you use when you’re living on a train?

Leonie and her Surface Pro 3 (Source)

As a German resident I’ve got plenty of experience of working on German trains. The highlight has to be my Nachtzug experience but in general I’m confined to a seat-back table or a lap.  Occasional days in a train are fun but how do you do it every day for a year? A Surface Pro is at the center of it all.

I use the Surface Pro 3 too and despite the large surface area it requires for standing it’s a powerful, lightweight PC packed into a well-built chassis. It’s got excellent WiFi reception capabilities too which is rather critical when you’re relying on free hotspots, in-train WiFi.

The German ‘DB100’ ticket costs over 4000 Euro for the year and includes trains that have WiFi…but it doesn’t include WiFi. A days pass costs €4.95 and if you’re traveling through hills or under tunnels you won’t get much reception. To cut the cost Leonie took a T-Mobile phone contract which allows her to add a months in-train WiFi for the same €4.95. I assume she’s using the same data tariff for the hotspot on her smartphone. My tip would be to get a separate 4G hotspot though because you can put it in the luggage rack or outside a window (not on a train, obviously) and often get better reception. 4G is a must when you’re traveling through Germany too as many of the ‘blackspots’ were filled with 4G-only coverage. Leonie explains in a blog post that it’s not always easy with the on-board WiFi though. “Obviously ‘flowing WiFi’ is pretty cool… the ICE (train) is a 300 km/h cross-country transport and it’s not possible to get total coverage. I try and view the WiFi as an extra and I’m happy when it works.” Clearly offline working is important! Station stops become synchronization stops.

But what about the noise? Leonie invested in a pair of noise cancelling headphones for the noisy times.

Leonie is documenting the year-long project on her blog Wherever You Go, There You Are! and is using it as a part of the of her studies for her Bachelors degree. Look forward to reading more in 2016! In the meantime, if you’ve got ultramobile computing tips for Leonie, drop them below.

Related: Choosing a travel PC. My tips and choices, which incidentally don’t include a Surface Pro 3. Read the article to find out why.

I’ll be traveling to Berlin next week for IFA so I’ll give you a rundown on the kit in an article soon. Hint: The Surface Pro 3 is at the center of my tech kit too.

[German translation by Chippy.]

I’ve just ordered the HP Stream 8 5900ng 8-inch Windows tablet because of an amazing European 3G deal. The HP Stream 8 5900ng includes an unlocked 3G module and comes with 200MB of Europe-roaming data per month for 2 years. You can top-up on a regular or one-off basis. According to information on the HP Germany website, USA is included from the 1st Feb 2015. Is this the ultra-mobile PC deal of the year? My company just paid  €149 after entering an offer code and taking into account the sales-tax rebate. Office 365 is also included in the deal. Even without Office 365 this the best 3G-enabled ultra-mobile PC deal I’ve ever seen in Europe.

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We asked the question yesterday…is the Nokia Lumia 920 worth 600 Euro and picked up a few comments from Nokia PR in Europe. At first I thought they were suggesting the RRP (recommended retail price) would come in at under 600 Euro but a further message suggested that we should make a full test before making a decision about value for money. Fair enough but there are people waiting in line you know! Today we get confirmation that the price isn’t coming in under 600 Euro.

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One in ten of you reading this article are from Germany, a country that leads the world in Ultrabook availability. How do we know this? We know this because we regularly scan retailers in USA, Germany, UK, Canada, France, Italy and Australia for information on pricing and availability for our database and Germany is always out front.

Those of you that think the English-language countries are the place to look for Ultrabook trends, reports, sales numbers need to think again because not only is there a huge availability of Ultrabooks, the cheapest Ultrabook is close to the $600 mark (pre-tax.) 599 Euros buys you the Lenovo U310 today – inclusive of 19% sales tax which most EU businesses will claim back.

Here’s a list of interesting Ultrabooks, including my comments, that you might want to look at if you’re a QWERTZ person. Pass it on to your German friends!

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It looks like Wortmann, a local brand in Germany, are following suit with Novatech, a local brand in the UK (maybe there’s a company connection?) by offering a low-cost no-frills Ultrabook. The Wortmann Terra Mobile 1450 is currently available at a launch price of 678 Euro, it matches some of the lowest street prices for Ultrabooks in the region, and offers a full 128GB SSD and a 58.5Wh battery – both worth having in your Ultrabook!

We’ve just had a note from Toshiba Europe to say that the Toshiba Satellite Z830-10J is now shipping in Germany, Austria and, I believe, the Benelux area. Specs are as we have then in the database (note it’s the Satellite and not the Portege in Europe…so far) and the official spec list confirms a matt screen. (Entspiegelt) Recommended retail price is €1099 but I see a number of retailers offering it for €999. Amazon for example. (Toshiba Satellite Z830-10J – aff.)

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Toshiba UK, operating independently from West Europe, North America and other regions have had specs, pricing and availability for the Toshiba Z830 available for a few weeks now but, for good measure, (or we suspect, a bit of timely fact regurgitation from The Register) the story is doing the rounds again today.

Toshiba UK already have model names, price and details available (details here) so all you’ll need to do is to wait for the first hands-on and then you can finally make your decision between the 4 Ultrabooks and the Ultrabook alternatives.

Interestingly, one large electronics retailer in Germany is convinced that the Z830 with be available on the 7th November [Conrad]. We’re trying to confirm this and are also looking forward to the Z830 as the first review device here on Ultrabooknews. More details on that in due course.

Via Pocket Lint

Excellent news! I was worried that the entry level Toshiba Z830 would be above €1000 but it’s not. The Toshiba Satellite Z830 Ultrabook is available for pre-order in Europe (or at least in Germany and UK) for €999. Even Amazon Germany are listing it.  [Z830 At Amazon – Aff.]

Update: Toshiba UK are now listing a range of models.

The model we’ve found at at least four retailers is the  Toshiba Satellite Z830-10J  (4GB, Core i5 2467 @1.6Ghz, 128GB SSD and delivery estimates range through November.

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